Scheduling You Is An Inconvenience To Me

For decades before the world-wide COVID-19 cultural catastrophe of lock-down and lock-out, many in the support ranks of the medical profession have been aloof, dismissive, and uncaring.  The front line personnel interfacing with patients, the office receptionists, medical assistants, and equipment technicians have seemed to feel that medical facilities are more about providing a comfortable workplace for them than providing medical care for patients.  Can this be true?

I am not talking about the stellar medical staff, those who are kind, caring, and a balm to the injured soul, because in my experience interacting with medical staff has been as likely to generate antagonism as assistance.  I dread even calling for an appointment.  Because, if I do not jolly medical staff along, entertaining and praising them, they wallow in unhappy grumpiness which is terribly taxing on me, the sick patient.  It is as if they have undergone an odd role-reversal where they present as unhappy and expect the sick patient to cheer them up.  Disgraceful.  Have they no common sense, no innate understanding of their role to be helpful?  Have weird television programs about zany, dysfunctional behavior in hospitals been their only training?

In my sad experience, and from the unhappiness expressed by many others whose illness, disability, and pain force them to approach the medical profession for help, only the doctors maintain a modocum of professional concern for their patient.  The rest are as apt to denigrate as to assist a patient.  I hope to be proven wrong in this, hopefully it is me and not them.  Otherwise, the medical profession is "broken", as they say.  Did I mention that some not only note incorrectly in my medical chart, they also lie?

The Guts Of The Matter

by Annmarie Throckmorton, copyright 2026